Must try restaurant in San Diego! Delicious food, great service from both servers and hosts. This place will get busy for dinner specially during weekends. I recommend to make reservations online to avoid the long wait.

This place was very solid I really liked the catfish lacombe i had in the picture (It was a special from that day) I did take a minute to come out after i ordered but i believe its one person cooking and they were busy with a 10 person reservation. Lucky i was able to just walk in and get seated instantly but i definitely recommend this place for that louisiana style of food, 8.9/10

My wife and I attended for dinner on a Friday. Ordered appetizer gator and fried dill pickles. It was great; but I would not have know there was any gator in the sausage if you didn't tell me The entree was the Taste of New Orleans with the blackened catfish. This was great! They didn't dumb down the spices and it was close to the level I like (lips start tingling). I ordered a coffee to drink which was good and strong; but it would have been nice to get a refill. If it hadn't of been for my beard, I would have licked the plate clean. So a couple of slices of bread would be good to sop up the left over sauces. Good service, great atmosphere, excellent food. Not a place I could afford to eat at often, but a good treat.

We went on a Wednesday evening, about 10 minutes after they opened. We were seated at a table on the side right away and a waitress brought us a light for the table (which was pretty good lighting for food pics). I started with the jalapeno cornbread muffin and the seafood bisque. The cornbread was not bad, but I thought it could have been a bit more flavorful and moist. The bisque was really good--one of the best things from the entire meal. For the mains, we got the blackened catfish po boy and A Taste of New Orleans with the blackened catfish. I saw on other reviews that the blackened catfish was delicious and they were right. I was expecting it to be good, but I was still surprised. I don't really know how to describe the etouffee besides really flavorful, but the cohesion of the entire plate was amazing (the tartar sauce on top really brings the dish together). My partner ordered the po boy, which was decent, but he got tired of it by the end. The fries were really crispy!! I wouldn't order the ceasar again, it didn't have much flavor. Lastly, we got the beignets -- 2/5 had zero structure inside, like it was completely empty. Service itself was pretty standard. Ambiance-wise, they had green and purple balloons tied to different chairs.

I was at a conference and was looking for a good restaurant to eat. I found the cafe on yelp. When I entered the cafe I was greeted by staff and seated immediately. The waiter was kind and polite. I ordered the pasta jambalaya. The meal was delicious and very filling. The seafood, sausage, chicken and sauce was the perfect combination with the pasta. The ambiance is truly customer service friendly and has a lot of seating. This is a great place to go for soul food.

Back again for our annual Mardi Gras dinner tradition!! 8 of us do this every year because we love this place. Eddie was our server. He was so kind and attentive. All of the staff are always kind, fast, Friendly. Our table sampled everything on the menu. Pasta, Jambalaya, etoufee, gator sausage, fried pickles, fish, bisque, jalepeno corn muffins, dessert. The kitchen is quick too. We cleaned every plate. We love all the balloons and beads and zydeco music on the speakers. It's so festive. Plenty of parking in the lot, wheelchair accessible. Both indoor and heated outdoor seating. Good job Bud's!!

Time for another update!! We have our date nights when we can! Be sure to check out their Instagram, great posts of their delicious food, products and new creations the owner loves to share. Had to rewind back about December 2024. But this place still hits the New Orleans Creole style food that I'm sure would hit home for some. Everything is cooked fresh and comes out hot n spicy. Had a new item to try, the specials change so if there's a special... do yourself a favor and order it!! Be honest, tell them what you think... they listen. Great spot, quiet and not a battle to find parking. Pick up, take out and dine in are all great options. We enjoy the atmosphere inside, very attentive waiters and staff. Restaurant is clean, restrooms are clean. Prices affordable and unique selection of drinks. Not your typical alcohol choices, however it's beer from Louisiana and it's fun to try something new. It's become a Favorite of ours personally... enjoy the Albitas! Food is still consistently delicious, have never had a bad experience nor a bad meal. Desserts.... are deathly and evil... enjoy being immersed in heaven with sweet happiness. New pictures always nice to have updates. Enjoy yelpers!!

Over the years, I've occasionally dined Bud's Louisiana Cafe. I've held off writing a review, because every time I started, most of what I had to say was derogatory, and what wasn't, wasn't great. In fact, I've eaten at several of Bud Deslatte's restaurants, from Feelings Café in New Orleans to Bayou Bar & Grill in San Diego's Gaslamp District, to the Cafe, and finally, to the now-defunct Bud and Rob's Bayou Kitchen in East Village. Each one has disappointed, offering middling performance. But I've never thought that the problem was purely Bud's fault. In the nearly 30 years that I've lived in San Diego, I've never found a local Cajun/Creole restaurant capable of nailing the Louisiana canon: boiled seafood; poboys; good soul food; dense things, stewed in sauce and delicate things, topped with sauce; and so on down the list. As is common in most cities outside that state, our "Louisiana" kitchens offer their patrons food that bears little resemblance to authentic local cuisine: our Cajun and Creole dishes are blasted with cayenne; our chefs serve seafood out of season because that's what out-of-towners expect; King Cake's served in September. My theory is that unless such a place imports its cooks from both New Orleans' 7th Ward and from two hours west, in Lafayette, and unless its chef is a genius at sourcing or replicating supplies like those used in the food's homeland, it's unlikely that it will adequately prepare the menu that it offers. And that's why I say, though Bud's Louisiana Café has never been very good, it's probably not Bud's fault. Still, why have I rated this restaurant so highly? Fairness. I haven't dined at Bud's since he moved on and Evan Sonenberg took over, and I'm an incurable optimist.